Spicy Chicken with Pepperoncini

The first time Bill told me he wanted to make a spicy chicken dish with pepperoncini, I had to look up what a pepperoncini is. In case you’re in the same boat that I was, here’s what you need to know.

What are Pepperoncini?

At their most simple, these are the Italian version of banana peppers but not quite the same. This sweet pepper is called peperone in Italian. The “cini” suffix means small, so they are small, sweet, spicy Italian peppers. FYI, I learned about the “cini” and other suffixes that mean small or diminutive while writing this other article about pasta noodles and how they got their names.

Bill likes heat more than I do. Also, I’m allergic to freshly cut peppers. Cooked, I can eat, no problem. But I can’t be around when someone is slicing any kind of fresh pepper, so I had to stay out of the kitchen when he made this. He kept notes for me so I could write this up after the dish was ready.

Making Spicy Chicken with Pepperoncini

With prep and cooking time, we were able to make this Spicy Chicken with Pepperoncinis in about 20 minutes. That’s not an exaggeration.

The end result is absolutely mouth watering. The creamy sauce with just the right amount of spice coming from the pepperoncinis. It wasn’t too much for wimpy me and it was just right for Bill. Actually, he added some hot pepper flakes to his dish just to get a little more kick. He couldn’t get enough of the sauce. Think Alfredo with just a little kick of spice, it is amazing. This was Bill’s first time cooking with Italian pepperoncini peppers and I’ll bet it won’t be his last.

Finally, while researching this recipe, Bill discovered that some people call this Mississippi Chicken. I guess the peppers are popular in the south.

Ingredients Overview

Step-by-step Instructions

As I mentioned earlier, with prep and cooking time, you can make this Spicy Chicken with Pepperoncinis in about 20 minutes. Truly. Here are the steps to take.

Cut the chicken breasts into evenly sized chunks. In a medium or large pan over medium to high heat add the butter until melted then add the chicken. Sprinkle the salt and pepper all over top of the chicken and stir. Brown the chicken all over making sure it’s cooked all the way also.

Remove cooked chicken from the pan to a plate and set a side. Into the same pan, add the onions and garlic to the pan and stir around for 1-2 minutes.

Next, you’ll be adding the chicken stock, then the heavy cream and finally the parmesan. Stir well. (Sorry, Bill forgot to take a picture of this step.) Add the pepperoncinis and the chicken to the pan, and stir around to coat everything and turn off the heat.

And that’s it! Your spicy chicken with pepperoncinis is ready to be served over rice, mashed potatoes or pasta. We made white rice in the Instant Pot and that’s what we served ours with.

Final thoughts and notes

As I mentioned, you can serve this with or over a starch of your choosing. We chose white rice but it could be orzo, quinoa, mashed potatoes or pasta — maybe even leftover risotto.

If the sauce is too thick you can add more chicken stock. On the other hand, if you find that the sauce isn’t thick enough, add more heavy cream.

You can save time by using frozen diced onions or even frozen diced chicken.